We haven't heard back from the mortgage lender yet (and we aren't expecting to until at least tomorrow, but maybe not until next week) but my partner has said that he doesn't want to get the property if it means I still have to work the part time job. I think I have to respect that. Also I want to quit. I still kind of want to stay because I like the security of the extra money but as I have said a million times: I am tired.

So, we will wait and see what the lender says and then go from there. There will always be another property to buy and this one has been on the market for awhile with no bites so it's possible it still might be there when we're ready again to try this process.

I am almost ready to make the final payment for our roof! Hooray! I am just waiting to get the rent check in to have a little more of a buffer in my checking account before I send the money off-just in case something happens in the next week. It took us a little over a year to pay the $12k for our metal roof (we had saved half of it and put the other half on 0% interest credit cards.) Next up to tackle is the renovation costs. We have about $9600 left to pay and have 12 months to do so before the interest kicks in. I am paying $850 a month plus all the cash back I get from my regular credit card spending (not much but about another $13/month) I am feeling pretty good about that.


What follows doesn't really have a lot to do with personal finance but is about politics so fair warning you are free to skip reading if you don't share my beliefs. I will not be offended


We went to see Bernie Sanders speak last night. I was already feeling the Bern but last night made me feel it even more. I agree with what Robert Reich says about the two Democratic candidates-Hillary is the most qualified to be president for the system that we currently have but "But Bernie Sanders is the most qualified candidate to create the political system we should have, because he’s leading a political movement for change."

One of the things he spoke about last night had a huge impact on me- our health care system and how broken it is. My mom passed away 5 years ago after many weeks of complications after having a surgery to heal an ulcer. An.Ulcer. She had the ulcer for 4 years but didn't/couldn't get any treatment for it because she couldn't afford to see a doctor. She lived in tremendous pain for 4 years because we didn't have health insurance. She either did not qualify for insurance because she was a breast cancer survivor and therefore had a pre-existing condition, or because the premiums were FAR too high to afford-especially because she was unemployed and couldn't work due to her health.

My mom lived in pain for 4 years in The United States of America because she couldn't afford a doctor. At the time it seem so normal but now I am beyond outraged. When we moved here when I went to grad school my mom was finally able to receive care. Because our town had a network of volunteer doctors who would see and treat patients for little or no cost at all. The clinic would fill prescriptions for little or no costs. My mom and I thought we had hit the jackpot. Finally she could receive care! I can't believe how happy we were for CRUMBS when the insurance companies and health care industry ARE MAKING BILLIONS off the sick and the poor. If we lived in Europe we would never have had to make the choices we did. She could have seen a doctor when she first felt bad and maybe the ulcer could have been healed without surgery.

There were a couple of days we thought that my mom would be able to be released to come home. She wasn't cured or even any better, but they said she couldn't stay at the hospital forever but would send her home with a PIC line...to the tune of $1500 a day. Yeah, that's completely reasonable. Sometimes I think my mom gave up at that point and decided it wasn't worth it. That she didn't want to be a burden on me and didn't want me making decisions about my future based on her and how to afford the things she needs. Two days after we started the process for medicaid, she had a massive heart attack. Then her organs began to shut down. If there was a medicine that would help one organ, it would damage another. There wasn't anything we could do but make her comfortable-she had a DNR and didn't want anything done to prolong her life. I helped her make phone calls so she could say goodbye. She told her closest friends that the doctors only gave her three days (they didn't say that, they had no predictions for us other than it could be any time) and sure enough she died 3 days later. I think she gave herself 3 days to take care of business and let go.

I am so thankful for the Affordable Care Act, even though it came too late for my mom. No one should have to live with pain because they can't afford to see a doctor, or can't afford to fill their prescriptions. But the ACA isn't enough. It hasn't gone far enough. We need a single payer system in this country. It is ridiculous that health care consumers don't know the cost of their procedures before hand. That the costs for the same procedures are so radically different depending where you are getting them. Our healthcare system is still broken and I just can't accept that we can't do better.